Breathing is the most important thing we do: we breathe around 20,000 times every day. If we stop breathing even for a few minutes we die. It is the first action we take when we are born and the last action we perform before we die. Yogis measure one’s lifespan by a specific number of breaths - if you breathe quickly, your life shortens and if you breathe slowly, it will be longer.

The quality and depth of our breath is just as important. Breathing is associated with the mind, and as we experience stress, the muscles of breathing get tighter and restrict our ability to breathe deeply. Most adults have lost half their lung capacity by middle age and most people typically only use around 1/10 of their capacity most of the time.

Since yoga is primarily a practice for mental evolution, breathing is an essential feature of all yogic practices. The first step is to be physically healthy and so full yogic breathing is developed in the context of physical practice, then breath is used for channeling the mind through pranayama and ultimately becomes the subtle tool that leads into meditation.

Pranayama

Pranayama is the link between the physical practice of asanas and meditation. Asanas are used for making the body flexible, relaxed and comfortable. Then we can sit and start the internal journey, which is really what yoga is all about. Pranayama is the physical practice that starts to introvert the mind and blends into the practice of pratyahara - sense introversion - and dharana - concentration.

There are many types of pranayamas but they fall primarily into two categories - therapeutic and for the purpose of meditation. In this workshop we will work on a series of pranayamas specifically designed to quieten and concentrate the mind for the purpose of meditation.

Internal Limbs - Subtle Yoga

Pratyahara is a vital practice on the path of yoga which has become mostly ignored or lost. It is the essential link between the “external” practices of asana and pranayama and the “internal” practices of dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). The loss of this practice is what has made meditation so challenging or impossible for most people.

Although yoga is usually associated with physical stretching and breathing, the original meaning of yoga is concentration or samadhi. If one is able to concentrate the mind, then, when all that activity stops, one can observe something else that lies beneath. This is consciousness, the true self, soul or spirit.

But our minds are so busy. Even if we try, we cannot stop the mind’s activity. As a result, we are never aware of that essential nature which lies hidden beneath the activity of mind. We do not know ourselves in depth or in essence, but we are constantly aware of what is in the mind. Not knowing ourselves results in a great deal of confusion and pain.

Meditation is therefore absolutely vital, both for proper self-knowledge and for feeling whole or healthy. Yoga provides a number of different entry-ways into meditation and explains various stages of samadhi that lead to the ultimate realization of our true nature. In this workshop we will explore these different types of meditation in theory and practice.

Integration

Ashtanga Yoga is an integral practice. Although it has become associated with a particular style of asana practice, asana is only one of eight steps or dimensions of a wholistic system. All eight practices are related to each other. They overlap to some extent, so that it is impossible to develop just one feature without developing another to some degree.

For instance, when you do a physical practice of asanas, the first thing you need is to concentrate (dharana), you need to breathe (pranayama), you need to be aware of how not to hurt yourself (ahimsa). But very often we learn the importance of these supplementary practices indirectly: we enter practice aggressively and hurt ourselves - as a result we develop an understanding for the need to be gentle and kind to ourselves (ahimsa).

We cannot make any real progress on the path of yoga without understanding these eight features and then finding a way to integrate them. In this workshop we shall take an overview of the eight practices and understand how we may create an integration in order to get the most out of practice.

The Art of Breathing
Establishing a Foundation for Good Health and as a Vehicle for Meditation
October 3 - December 26

A Twelve Week Course in Two Parts

Tuesdays
4PM Israel Time
9AM New York Time

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